A tea whisk used to whip powdered green tea, matcha
抹茶, and hot water in a tea bowl until it froths. The whisk is made from one piece
of bamboo about 2 to 2 1/2 cm thick and from 9cm to 12cm long. Near one end is
a node. A little beyond the node on the longer end, string is interlaced, karami-ito
絡み糸, to hold the longer ends which are split finely into a varying number of extremely
thin strips. The string is intertwined to create two rows of strips. Those on
the outer edge have their tips curved inwardly, and those pulled toward the center
have their tips curved out. This creates a double tipped whisk. Whisks are classified
by the number of tips: those having 80 to 120 or more are called multi-tipped;
those with fewer are designated medium or sparse. White bamboo is preferred by
the Ura Senke 裏千家 School; sooty bamboo by the Omote Senke 表千家 School; green or
purplish bamboo by the Kankyuu'an 官休庵 School.

a) chajimi 茶じみ b) hosaki 穂先 c) karami-ito
絡み糸
d) jiku 軸 e) fushi 節

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